Hand-truck.



G. P. TOLMAN.

HAND TRUCK.

APPLIOATION FILED DEG. 6, 1913.

Patented May 26, 1914,

2 sums-sum 1.

6212M INVENTOR W ATTORNEYS WITNESSE a? i. 4

G. P. TOLMAN.

HAND TRUCK.

APLPLIOATION FILED 1330.6, 1913.

1,097,688. v Patented May 26, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

, m I/WENTW? i a 4 ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII COH\VASHINOTON, n, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES P. TOLIVIAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HAND-TRUCK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES P. TOLMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented the following described Improvements in Hand-Trucks.

The improvement is a device capable of attachment to hand trucks, orlike devices, or of original incorporation in the running gear thereoffor the purpose of starting and propelling and also of stopping andsteering such trucks and provides the particular advantage, amongothers, that 1t enables such vehicles when heavily loaded to be set inmotion up inclines, or over obstructions in either direction, by handand without undue exertion and to be brought to rest with equalfacility, as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevationof a railway truck selected for illustration of the invention; Fig. 2, afront elevation; and Fig. 3, a partial plan of the same truck; F 1g. 1is an example, in front elevation, of the application of the inventionto the running gear of ordinary hand trucks.

Referring to the railway truck, the body 10 is carried on the usual sideand cross bolsters, and the axles 11 thereof are journaled in boxes 12secured thereto, with the wheels 13 preferably, in this instance, fixedto the axles so as to rotate therewith as the truck is moved along. Adisk or drum 16 is mounted on either one of the rotating axles, orotherwise, so as to be capable of lo tating such axle, or at least oneof the wheels thereon, and. for this purpose may be located eitheroutside of the wheels or inside of them, as indicated in the drawings.

The drum is driven by frictional engagement with a drive member, in theform of a band or brake strap 17, which embraces it, one end of suchband being permanently secured to the handle or operating lever 18 andthe other to a stirrup link 22 hung on the axle, concentrically with thedrum. The handle or lever 18 is also fulcrumed concentrically with thedrum, being conveniently ring-jointed on the axle, for example, as shownat 20 in the drawings, and is provided with a pull-rod 23 connected withstirrup 22 and the other end of the friction band 17. The pull-rod isoperated by a grip lever 21 at its outer end, such grip beingSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 6, 1913.

Patented May 26, 1914. Serial No. 804,977.

adjacent to the hand grip, 19 of the operating lever, so that the pullrod can be conveniently operated or released, as desired. It will benoted that the drawings show the friction band device and its pull rodand grip connections merely in conventional form, but it will beunderstood that these parts may assume any number of different forms,according to preference. A spring 24 is provided between. the handle andgrip lever, urging the parts into their released position in which thefriction between the brake strap and its drum is relieved. lVhile theweight of the parts or the tendency of the strap itself to uncurl mightbe sufficient to relieve the friction on the drum member, such spring isin any event desirably employed in the interest of reliability of actionand so that the drum may rotate freely within or with respect to theband when the vehicle is in motion. The yoke link 22 is serviceable inguiding and supporting the end of the pull rod and also in keeping thefree end of the strap in its place, yet it will be obvious that othermeans may be provided for this purpose and that any suitablecoordination between the strap and its drum may serve to keep the formerin place. It will also be observed that the band inemher is serviceableto rotate the wheel or axle in both directions and to brake it in bothdirections.

Motion imparted to the handle member 18 will obviously be imparted tothe disk or drum 16, to rotate the latter and the wheels,

whenever the driving friction member 17 is engaged against the drum bypressure upon the grip lever 21, and by pressing this lever always onthe downward or upward stroke, as the case may be, and releasing it onthe intermediate strokes, the truck may be pro pelled in one directionor the other. The propulsive force will be dependent upon the size ofthe wheels and the length of the operating lever, as will be obvious,and by a proper proportionment of these elements, or, if desired, by theuse of a suitable form of intermediate gearing, the device can beadapted to true {S for any purpose. Though very heavily loaded, a truckmay thus be started, or worked up an incline, or over unevennesses ofthe floor or ground or track, by a single person, and when under way canbe brought to rest by tightening the friction member after the manner ofan ordinary friction brake. For this purpose the lever cated in themiddle of the axle.

may be held by the hand of the operator while applying the brakingfriction or it can be latched to the truck body, as by means of somesuch device as shown at 26, Figs. 1 and 3. This retainer will of coursehold the lever against movement with the drum and permit the operator toapply a braking pressure just sufficient for his needs.

Then the pumping movement of the lever mechanism is done by the operatorfrom the rear of the truck, it is of advantage to have such mechanismlocated near one end of the axle, as shown in the drawing, for theoperator walking behind and at one side of the car can thus have a clearview ahead.

Fig. at illustrates a further application of the invention in which theoperating handle also serves as a tongue for steering the truck. In thisform the truck body 10 is provided with a king bolt or the usualfifthwheel construction 27, enabling the axle 11 to be turned to oneside or the other in the usual manner, the wheels 13 being in this caseflat-treaded and adapted to roll over the ground or the floor of afactory or platform. The steering tongue and hand lever 18, correspondsin all respects to the lever 18 of the other figures, except that it isprovided with a cross-bar 28 for greater convenience in pulling andsteeringand is 10- The drum and strap construction is likewiseidentical,

being designated by the same reference numerals, and will be readilyunderstood without further explanation. One or both the wheels 13 may befast on the axle, or if desired each wheel may have its own drum andfriction band operated by a single tongue handle, thus allowing thewheels to rotate at different rates or in different directions when theswiveled aXle is turned on the king bolt. The lateral movement of thetongue steers the truck, its vertical movement propels it in eitherdirection, and the use of the grip lever alone brings the truck to astop. A support, such as 26, may also be provided for this tongue.

l/Vhile I have described the simple and at present the preferred formsof my invention, it will be understood that various changes, omissions,substitutions and alterations of proportion and relative arrangement maybe resorted to without departing from the invention.

I claim:

1. A manually operated propelling means comprising in combination with adriven member, a driving member having frictional engagement therewithand adapted to rotate the same in either direction, a hand lever foroperating said driving member, and means for applying and releasing thefriction between said driving and driven members independently of themotion of either.

2. In a wheeled truck adapted to be pro pelled by hand, the combinationwith one or more of the wheels thereof, of a hand lever oscillating in avertical plane and provided with means whereby such oscillation mayrotate the wheel in either direction, such means including a grip memberon the handle operable to brake the wheel in either direction.

3. In a truck or like device, a manual friction drive, comprising thecombination of a rotary driven member, a friction band member adapted toengage the driven member, a hand lever connected with the band andmanual means for engaging and releasing the band independently of itslever action, whereby the band may serve as a brake and reversiblepropelling means.

l. In a truck or like device, a manual friction drive mechanism,comprising, in combination, a friction drum and band, a hand levermounted substantially coaXially with the drum with one end of the bandconnected to it, and manually operated mechanism connected to the otherend of the band for tightening the same on the drum, said mechanism andlever being conjointly operable to rotate the drum in either direction.

5. The combination with a rotary driven part, of a driving friction bandmember mounted for engagement therewith, two members j ournaled tooscillate coaxially with said driven part and connected respectivelywith different portions of the band, means for conjointly oscillatingsaid members, and means for producing relative movement between them totighten or release the band in either direction of oscillation.

6. In a friction drive for trucks and like devices, the combination of adriven drum, two jointly oscillatory members embracing the drum, adriving friction band encircling the drum and connected at its oppositeends to such members respectively, and means for producing relativemovement between such members independently of their oscillatorymovement.

7. The combination of a driven drum, a twopart oscillatory hand operatindevice, and a driving friction band connected at its opposite ends withthe two parts thereof.

8. In a manual drive, the combination of a driven drum, a driving membercooperating frictionally therewith, a handle part for oscillating saidmember, and a second handle part associated with the first and connectedwith the friction member to cause the grip and release of the sameindependently of the direction of its oscillatory movement.

9. The combination with a wheeled truck, of manual means for driving orbraking the same comprising a drum member connected with one or more ofthe wheels of said truck, a friction band driving member en- ,gageablewith the drum, a hand lever for oscillating or holding the drivingmember, and manual means associated with said lever for engaging thedriving member with the drum on movement thereof in either direction andindependently of such direction.

10. A wheeled truck having in combination therewith a rotary partconnected with one or more of the wheels hereof, a friction driving andbrake member cooperating with said rotary part, an oscillating manualdevice connected with said friction member to oscillate the same andprovided with grip means for producing friction upon the drumindependently of the direction of rotation thereof, and a spring tendingto relieve the friction.

11. In a truck and in combination with an axle thereof, a drum fast onthe axle, .a driving friction member cooperating with the drum, and ahand grip mechanism having relatively movable portions connected respectively with opposite parts of said driving member.

12. A wheeled truck having in combination, a friction driven member, afriction member to drive or brake the same, a propelling handlecontrolling the frictional en gagement of said members and adapted toproduce or relieve the friction therebetween, and a braking supportdetachably connected with the handle when used for braking.

13. A vehicle having a steering wheel and a drum member to rotate thesame, a frictional driving member for the drum and a steering handle forsuch wheel cooperating with the driving member to rotate the drum.

1-1. A truck having in combination with a wheeled steering support, adriven friction member connected therewith, an oscillatory steeringtongue, a driving friction member oscillated thereby, and means on suchtongue to control the friction between the driving and driven members.

15. A truck having a drum connected with one or more of the wheelsthereof, a hand lever mounted to oscillate coaxially with said drum, afriction band arranged to engage said drum and connected at one end tosaid lever, another member mounted to oscillate coaXially with said drumand having the other end of said band secured to it, a supplementarygrip lever fulcrumed on the aforesaid lever, and a link connecting saidsupplementary grip lever and member.

16. In a wheeled truck, a manual friction drive therefore comprising adriven friction member connected to one or more of the wheels thereof, afriction band adapted to engage therewith, an oscillatory grip mechanismhaving parts connected with different portions of the band and movableto constrict and oscillate the same, and a spring tending to separatethe parts of the grip mechanism.

17. In combination with a wheeled steering truck, a driven friction partconnected with one or more of the wheels thereof, a friction drivingmember adapted to engage said part, a steering tongue at one end of thetruck adapted to operate said driving member by a pumping motion, andmeans for controlling the frictional engagement of said driving anddriven members to propel the truck in either direction.

18. In a steerable wheeled truck, a tongue movable laterally to steerthe truck and movable vertically to propel the same.

19. In a steerable wheeled truck, a steering tongue and means adaptingsuch tongue to propel or brake the truck in either direction.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof tWo wit- IIQSSGS.

CHARLES P. TOLMA N. Witnesses H. G. KIMBALL, G. A. TAYLoR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

